Time Saver Tip for Teachers – Less Time at the Copy Machine
Teachers have about 52 million tasks on their plates at any given moment. Our jobs are packed with data, meetings, lesson planning, and making copies! A couple years into teaching, I realized I was spending so many of my planning periods running back and forth to the copy machine.
I started to think about how I could change that. Then it dawned on me, my team and I could have all of our warm-ups and weekly activities like spelling tests or homework copied before the year even began!
Every year we make our copies for the entire year before the first day of school. If you’re in the middle of the school year, you can still jump on this train right now and be done until the end of the year!
How to spend less time at the copy machine:
1. Grab a pen and list out any activity that is done daily or weekly.
For me that included weekly spelling tests, homework packets, morning work, and our math warm-up.
2. Spend time collecting all of these items. Print them out, have them organized in a way that will work best for your students.
I keep all of these items in separate binders. All of our morning work is together and divided out by quarter as well as our homework.
3. Head to the copy machine and copy things into packets! Then students will have their morning work ready to go! No time will be spent passing out papers every morning!
Click HERE for FREE EDITABLE COVERS to help keep you organized!
Bonus Copy Tips:
– Copy everything into packets split up by quarter. This way the packets do not get too large and the staples stay in nicely.
– Copy double sided or two items to a page to save paper.
– Copy the packets in booklet form with two staples on the side. This holds up a lot longer in student desks.
– Copy with front and back covers as card stock to make them more durable! Most copy machines have this feature hidden in there! Don’t be afraid to ask for help!
Teacher Tip: Bring chocolate to snack on! This could take a while!
Disclosure: I’m very lucky to be able to have the resources to copy ahead of time. I by no means have every copy made for the year, BUT the few things we do that are routine… are done and it feels great!
Copying for the year is a big task up front, but it is a huge time saver for teachers in the long run! No more forgetting to make copies and running them at the last second! Students fall into a routine which gives you more time to handle those chaotic situations in the morning! If you have any other tips, I’d love to hear them!
Be sure to share your copy tips in action with my on Instagram! Just tag me @thesprinkletoppedteacher!